NHC Woodbine/Saratoga Challenge July 20

[Ted Craven]

I am entered on Sunday July 20 in the live Woodbine/Saratoga Challenge Contest held in the Trackside Tent at Woodbine. A NHC qualifier contest.

Wish me luck - my first live handicapping contest!

Info --> HERE (http://www.woodbineentertainment.com/Woodbine/Betting/HandicappingChallenges/Saratoga/Pages/RulesRegulations.aspx).

.

[sureshotlink]

What I have personally learned from playing tourneys is this:

Don't think twice about dis-carding horses with strong readouts that will not at least pay 7-1 or higher. This is one aspect of tourney play that took me a while to get comfortable with.

Most importantly stay focused!

And as my good friend and tourney pro Christian hellmers advised me:

in a tournaments bet as your life depends on it and swing for the fences on your strongest opinion with the greatest value.

[Bill V.]

Go get them Ted

Bill

[mowens33]

Ted, wish you the best of skill (with some luck)!

Have fun!!

Mike

[Ted Craven]

What I have personally learned from playing tourneys is this:

Don't think twice about dis-carding horses with strong readouts that will not at least pay 7-1 or higher. This is one aspect of tourney play that took me a while to get comfortable with.

Most importantly stay focused!

And as my good friend and tourney pro Christian hellmers advised me:

in a tournaments bet as your life depends on it and swing for the fences on your strongest opinion with the greatest value.

Thanks Bill, Paul, Mike! I intend primarily to HAVE FUN! It's a kind of (upcoming) birthday treat to myself.

That said, Paul, although Hellmers can come across as 'out there', no one can doubt his skill, passion and preparedness! So I take his and your advice with sincerity and thanks!

Ted

[Ryan.p.coli]

sureshotlink,

You're friends with Christian Helmer's? His performances at the BC challenge have been pretty legendary.

Ted-

Be confident- You got this. Can't wait to see how well you do.

[cigar]

Thanks Bill, Paul, Mike! I intend primarily to HAVE FUN! It's a kind of (upcoming) birthday treat to myself.

That said, Paul, although Hellmers can come across as 'out there', no one can doubt his skill, passion and preparedness! So I take his and your advice with sincerity and thanks!

Ted


Ted I just sign up, and came to check what new on the forum. Pleasantly surprise to see you are entered. Looking forward to meeting you.

Can you share some insight on Saratoga race track. I've never played this track.

[JimG]

Good luck Ted. Have fun!

Jim

[sureshotlink]

Thanks Bill, Paul, Mike! I intend primarily to HAVE FUN! It's a kind of (upcoming) birthday treat to myself.

That said, Paul, although Hellmers can come across as 'out there', no one can doubt his skill, passion and preparedness! So I take his and your advice with sincerity and thanks!

Ted


HAHAHA!! All us Californians are a little out there!!

[sureshotlink]

sureshotlink,

You're friends with Christian Helmer's? His performances at the BC challenge have been pretty legendary.

Ted-

Be confident- You got this. Can't wait to see how well you do.


Yes! and one of the nicest guys you will meet in our field. His win in the recent HPWS stamped him as one of the best tourney players hands down.
beating out close to 800 players over a 3 day period is nothing short of amazing.

[Ted Craven]

Ted I just sign up, and came to check what new on the forum. Pleasantly surprise to see you are entered. Looking forward to meeting you.

Can you share some insight on Saratoga race track. I've never played this track.

Cigar, looking fwd to seeing you there!

I'm afraid I have no particular insight on Saratoga, except that I enjoy it and usually find it profitable. I just work each race with the numbers I'm given, the matchup for that race, and the insights and value offered by the toteboard :)

I might say to be cautious on the greater than normal 2 YO races carded, especially featuring many First Time Starters. But then again, using the Tote Xray and Workout patterns, I have had probably more than my fair share of nice hits in those races - not all of them FTS, but some payouts in those races have been nice, if a bit more chaotic.

Ted

[cigar]

Cigar, looking fwd to seeing you there!

I'm afraid I have no particular insight on Saratoga, except that I enjoy it and usually find it profitable. I just work each race with the numbers I'm given, the matchup for that race, and the insights and value offered by the toteboard :)

I might say to be cautious on the greater than normal 2 YO races carded, especially featuring many First Time Starters. But then again, using the Tote Xray and Workout patterns, I have had probably more than my fair share of nice hits in those races - not all of them FTS, but some payouts in those races have been nice, if a bit more chaotic.

Ted

Thanks, just curious what is Tote Xray?

[Ted Craven]

Here you go (in the RDSS2 FAQ (http://www.rdss2.com/faq) page):

http://paceandcap.com/forums/showpost.php?p=93765&postcount=11

Start by clicking on the Supertote button on the RDSS Desktop. Set up a free Brisnet Supertote account.

Use the Google Site Search (http://www.rdss2.com/google-sitesearch) for 'Tote Xray documentation' or other related search terms.

Good luck!

Ted

[Ryan.p.coli]

Yes! and one of the nicest guys you will meet in our field. His win in the recent HPWS stamped him as one of the best tourney players hands down.
beating out close to 800 players over a 3 day period is nothing short of amazing.

That's very cool. His confidence and success is a true inspiration to me. I've also found that his approach has a lot of similarities to the Sartin Methodology (digging into subconscious, pace/velocity, and lastly VALUE).

I caught him speaking about a really cheap maiden race in his TV show, and I really agreed with it. He described it as "Imagine the two worst NFL teams playing against eachother. One has really no idea what to expect. I would never put money on a race like this."

I also try to emulate his preparation. Most people aren't willing to put the time and effort forward to be successful in this game.

[Hoof 11]

Well?

How did you make out Uncle Ted?

There's no results yet on the Woodbine site.

[Ted Craven]

Just got home, and will post more thoughts tomorrow. I finished in the bottom half (~130th out of 198 ?), but P&C member cigar finished about 58th with a solid profit (and bought me a beer afterwards - thanks, man!)

We both left just before the end and the leaders had $100 - $110, some with 3 races remaining, with some rather sketchy races upcoming. I'm sure the leaderboard will be published shortly.

Some VERY interesting results on the RDSS automated oddsline. I'll itemize some of them and my overall thoughts from my first ever live tournament tomorrow. Meanwhile, I think anyone with today's Woodbine and Saratoga cards, the RDSS Default settings will understand what I mean ...

We missed you Gil!

Ted

[cigar]

Just got home, and will post more thoughts tomorrow. I finished in the bottom half (~130th out of 198 ?), but P&C member cigar finished about 58th with a solid profit (and bought me a beer afterwards - thanks, man!)

We both left just before the end and the leaders had $100 - $110, some with 3 races remaining, with some rather sketchy races upcoming. I'm sure the leaderboard will be published shortly.

Some VERY interesting results on the RDSS automated oddsline. I'll itemize some of them and my overall thoughts from my first ever live tournament tomorrow. Meanwhile, I think anyone with today's Woodbine and Saratoga cards, the RDSS Default settings will understand what I mean ...

We missed you Gil!

Ted

It was my pleasure to meeting you. My first tournament and I had tons of fun. Validate my use of RDSS2 and looking forward to the updates we discussed.

Happy Birthday .....